Ether Café

Monday, February 1, 2010

The latest Square-Enix game for the Nintendo DS hit stores in Japan on Thursday the 28th of January. Within the first 4 days of its release, it already sold about 900,000 copies in Japan alone, beating out the DQ 4 and 5 remakes in sales for its first days (600,000 for DQIV and 679,00 for DQV). It has already passed the 1 million sales mark but has not yet been confirmed.

This is the first time they remake DQ6 on any other platform after its initial release on the SNES. When it first came out, it sold for a whopping 11,970 yen (about $100). Despite the huge price tag, Dragon Quest VI has sold 3.2 million copies in Japan, becoming the best selling game of 1995.

Here's a quick little synopsis on the game for those of you that are interested :

Like most Dragon Quest games in the series, the setting of Dragon Quest VI is very medieval, complete with castles, knights, and magic. The main world is divided into the "Real World" and the "Dream World". To get from one world to the other, the party uses special warps by ascending/descending stairs on the world map or falling through holes in the "Dream World" to the "Real World". It appeals a lot to the dreamers out there that like solid story lines.

The Battle System may be a bit outdated (Pretty much like any other DQ game) but if you appreciate games for the depth and story, you'll most likely enjoy DQVI. Keep an eye out for a North American release date in the near future.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

So a couple days ago, there was a big deal about this "CAPCOM x Microsoft" thing. There were many speculations left and right on what it could possibly be. Some thought maybe a cross over game like Capcom Vs. Microsoft, like the Capcom Vs. SNK games we've seen or Marvel Vs. Capcom. Cept with um... Master Chief and... That other guy.... Yeah.

Others thought maybe a shooter with the likes of Megaman, Master Chief, our favorite Resident Evil characters and so on. There were many different ideas but in the end most people thought it'd be a brand new game with the two companies collaborating. It's what I expected the most, to be honest.

Well since that's all old news, they announced it yesterday. It ended up being "Monster Hunter Fronter". A Massively Multiplayer Online Action Role Playing Game (Next time I'll just type out MMOARPG, even that felt long enough). Although I do enjoy the MH series as I've been playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, I can't help but be a bit disappointed by that announcement.

Here's why : MHF has been around since 07' in Japan and Korea. They never released it here in the US or anywhere else to be exact. It looks great and I still want to play it but I think they somewhat over-hyped the whole thing with that countdown and big scheduled announcement. We still haven't gotten Monster Hunter Tri or anything (should be coming out this April) and don't even know IF there will ever be a MHF for the 360 over here. I'm pretty sure it will eventually come out over here but who knows how long that'll take.

It just seems that companies are using that countdown thing for just about anything now. Am I happy with the announcement of MHF for the 360? Sure, I'm going to be playing the hell out of it one day. I just think that Capcom should save those big announcements for actual new games instead of for the same old rehashed games they've been making lately. It'd be nice to see something new from them a part from the countless sequels, spinoffs and remakes.